Dr. Jonathan Quash
University Executive Director, CUNY Black Male Initiative
Dr. Jonathan Quash is the University Executive Director for the CUNY Black Male Initiative, effective January 19, 2023 Before this position, Dr. Quash served as the York College Male Initiative Program & Special Programs director from 2004 to 2021. Since 2004, Dr. Quash has sought to expand opportunities for students of underrepresented populations by creating original programming and constantly striving to find new ways to achieve student success. For example, Dr. Quash helped expand the peer-mentor program at York College and partnered with various external agencies to build stronger relationships with community-based organizations. In addition, he increased interest in STEM/STEAM programming by creating a robotics program for students struggling in those subject areas.
Dr. Quash established the Beta Chapter of Pi Eta Kappa at York College, the academic fraternity and honor society for urban males. Under his leadership, the York College Male Initiative Program established a Fatherhood Initiative, Book Club, Barbershop Mentoring Series, My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, and LGBTQI programming. Dr. Quash was appointed the program manager for emergency and food insecurity support at York College. Under his leadership, the program has served 900 students on average annually since its inception in 2018. He fostered a relationship with the Social Work and Health Education departments to allow clinical placement at the food pantry for students in those majors.
In addition to his career in student affairs, Jonathan also served as the York College Gospel Chorus director for more than ten years. As a result, the chorus traveled to Atlanta to compete in the HBCU Gospel Choir Competition at its pinnacle, hosted by Dr. Bobby Jones. Dr. Quash holds a Ph.D. degree in Leadership in Higher Education, a MA in Higher Education Administration, and a BA in Music Performance.